by Brian Kunde
Second installment of The Unwritten Classics of the de Camps. Today: The Unpublished.
2. Unpublished.These were written in whole or in part but never published, at least not in the form intended. Some provided fodder for later, lesser projects, as noted.
Civilization. In 1979, de Camp told Darrell Schweitzer that at that time he was well enough off that he “probably could afford to write a whole book that didn’t promise great commercial rewards. As a matter of fact I’ve had such a book in mind for some time, and that’s a book on civilization. The same title as Lord Clark’s, only mine would be spelled with a ‘z.’ I’ve been collecting material on the subject of what you might call the causes and cures of civilization for the last quarter century and I have quite a mass of stuff now. But whether I shall get around to writing it, I don’t know, because people keep asking me to write other things.” (Schweitzer, Darrell, Science Fiction Voices #1, Borgo Press, 1979, p. 56.) Schweitzer himself writes about this projected work of nonfiction in connection with de Camp’s last published science book, The Ape-Man Within (Prometheus Press, 1995): “I recall that Sprague used to talk about writing a book called Civilization … He didn’t, but this comes close at times.” (Darrell Schweitzer in a post to the d for de Camp Yahoo Group, April 28, 2007.) The Ape-Man Within aside, the material de Camp collected in connection with the Civilization project is presumably represented by a manuscript of that title contained in Box 200 of the L. Sprague & Catherine Crook de Camp Papers. See also Mainsprings of Civilization and The Origin of Cities.
The Fatuous Fay. A manuscript contained in Box 144 of the L. Sprague & Catherine Crook de Camp Papers. Almost certainly the manuscript of the intended sixth Novarian novel, the unpublished The Sedulous Sprite (see separate entry), under a working title. Admittedly, the adjectives in the two titles are near-opposites: “fatuous” means silly, while sedulous means diligent. However, these characteristics are not necessarily mutually exclusive; the fifth Novarian novel, The Honorable Barbarian, features a sprite named Belinka exhibiting both attributes, and we know from the first page of The Sedulous Sprite manuscript (which Darrell Schweitzer has posted online) that she was projected as the title character for that novel.
Introduction to The Green Hills of Earth. De Camp contributed what Robert A. Heinlein described as a “wonderful introduction” to the latter’s collection The Green Hills of Earth (Shasta, 1951). To Heinlein’s annoyance, however, the publisher inexplicably “dumped it” in favor of a different one by Mark Reinsberg. (Patterson, William H., Jr. Robert A. Heinlein: In Dialog with His Century. Volume 2: The Man Who Learned Better (Tor, 2014, page 68). In recompense, Heinlein later provided de Camp with his own intro to The Glory That Was (Avalon, 1960) (Ibid., page 79), but as far as has been determined, this de Camp introduction has never been published anywhere.
Johnny Black. At one time, Sprague’s four stories about Johnny, the black bear who had been instilled with human intelligence, were expected to be collected in book form. A semi-announcement even appeared in Walter Gillings’ “Fantasia” column for the prominent British fanzine Fantasy Review. He touted as “also forthcoming . . . L. Sprague de Camp’s ‘Johnny Black’ tales to appear in book form . . .” (Fantasy Review, v. 3, no. 13, Feb./Mar. 1949, p. 7; ellipses in the original). It would not have made a very big book. By my estimate, the tales in question would collectively come to only about 30,000 words, so the collection would have to have been padded out with other stories. In any case, it never materialized. If ever a serious project, de Camp must have thought better of it. Most likely, he had qualms about having the stories appear in company with each other; as he later wrote, “I learned the hard way that each story of a series must top its predecessor or it will look less good. In this case, the series ran down; Johnny Black starts out by saving the world and ends up saving his boss’s job. It should have been the other way around, but that would have meant planning the whole series in advance. This would have been wise, but I did not then know that.” (“Author’s Afterword,” The Best of L. Sprague de Camp, Doubleday, 1978)
The Lion’s Parasites. This novel actually exists, and was published–in French, and not by de Camp. The original, titled La Vermine du Lion (Fleuve Noir, 1967) is a science fiction novel by Francis Carsac. Francis Carsac was the pen name of de Camp’s friend, French geologist, archaeologist and science fiction novelist François Bordes (1919-1981). The novel is an interplanetary adventure along the lines of de Camp’s Krishna novels. The title references the Terran predatory exploiters of the extrasolar planet Eldorado (the figurative “Lion”), against whom protagonist Téraï Laprade champions the native humanoid inhabitants. Carsac dedicated the work to de Camp and Poul Anderson, from whose works he acknowledge borrowing some elements. So why am I including it here? Because de Camp, who throught the book “a whale of a story,” hoped in the 1980s to translate it into English for the American market, and actually undertook the project with the permission of Carsac’s widow. He produced a three-chapter sample with a synopsis of the remainder, which his agent shopped around to various publishers, but it was rejected on the grounds the Carsac “had no name recognition in the US and, being dead, could not be sold as a ‘coming’ writer.” (L. Sprague de Camp in a letter to G. W. Cavalier published in REHupa 113, November 22, 1991.) The current whereabouts of the manuscript of de Camp’s partial translation are unknown, unless (just possibly) it might be the one labeled “Francis Carsac,” contained in Box 224 of the L. Sprague & Catherine Crook de Camp Papers, for which see below.
Man and Cities. A manuscript contained in Box 160 of the L. Sprague & Catherine Crook de Camp Papers. Intended to be the third in a series of Golden Press books beginning with the published Man and Power (Golden Press, 1961), this book was written but not published. De Camp explains: “Golden Press was so pleased with Man and Power that they offered me contracts for two more of the kind. … The editor … was planning layouts [for the second volume, Man and Life], when I completed and sent him the manuscript for Man and Cities. … Then in 1963 the company fell into a financial plight … and … Cities was shelved and has never been published.” (Time & Chance, Donald M. Grant, 1996, pp. 265.) Possibly also related to the The Origin of Cities manuscript contained in Box 160.
Man and Life. A manuscript contained in Box 162 of the L. Sprague & Catherine Crook de Camp Papers. Intended to be the second book in the same series, it too was written but not published. De Camp explains: “In Man and Life, a survey of the biological sciences, I drew on the notes for my classes at Fairly Dickinson, so the writing moved swiftly. The editor … had rounded up the pictures and was planning layouts … Then in 1963 the company fell into a financial plight … and Life … was shelved and has never been published.” (Time & Chance, Donald M. Grant, 1996, pp. 265.)
Riot in Westchester. An unpublished manuscript contained in Box 200 of the L. Sprague & Catherine Crook de Camp Papers. Sprague wrote it after World War II when he was trying to reestablish himself as a successful writer. As he tells it, “I started another project in an effort to break out of the science-fiction ghetto. This was a humorous ribald novel with a contemporary setting, Riot in Westchester, somewhat in the vein of P. G. Wodehouse and Thorne Smith. The novel was built upon an imagined situation: that of the heroine’s being chased naked up Fifth Avenue in New York by an infuriated zebra. … Taking [that] as my climax, I worked backwards to concoct a plot to explain it. But, when the story was written, Catherine told me it was terrible. After half a dozen quick rejections from book publishers, I had to admit that it was indeed terrible, and the Wodehouse-cum-Thorne Smith style was not really my métier.” (Time & Chance, Donald M. Grant, 1996, p. 202.)
Round About the Cauldron. A mammoth study of the occult to which Sprague devoted years of work, and which he hoped would make both his reputation and fortune. No such luck. It languished for many years, and never attained publication in complete form, though a much truncated version (edited down by Catherine) eventually appeared as Spirits, Stars, and Spells (Canaveral Press, 1966). It was not among the de Camps’ more successful books. In the meantime the full study was cannibalized to provide fodder for other works. As noted at the beginning of this survey, Sprague’s article “The Unwritten Classics” (the title of which I reused as that of the present article) was an extract from the manuscript. Another remnant is the separate work Lost Continents (Gnome Press, 1955), an expansion of another section – this was originally “a chapter on Atlantis and other legendary lost continents” in the larger work (Time & Chance, Donald M. Grant, 1996, pp. 204-205). Just to complicate matters, de Camp ultimately reused the title “Round About the Cauldron,” as a section title in the collection The Ragged Edge of Science (Owlswick Press, 1980). Possibly some of the articles gathered under that heading are also extracts from the study. The manuscript titled Round About the Cauldron contained in Boxes 159 and 162 of the L. Sprague & Catherine Crook de Camp Papers likely represents the book-length work rather than the essay. Manuscript material for Spirits, Stars, and Spells is contained in Boxes 162 and 188.
Science Fiction Handbook, Expanded. The original Science-Fiction Handbook (Hermitage House, 1953), an actual and recognized classic writers’ manual for and history of the science fiction field, was a solo production by Sprague de Camp. The second edition, Science-Fiction Handbook, Revised (Owlswick Press, 1975), conceived as a textbook suitable for classroom use (to which use the first edition had on occasion been put) was a reworking by Catherine. For that edition material regarded as dated was eliminated and sections dealing with the business side of a writing career were added. The business end was Catherine’s own specialty, and her major contribution to the work. Unfortunately, the second edition was poorly received. Critics regarded the cut portions as constituting much that had been of value in the original work. Evidently, the de Camps took this criticism to heart, and as a result a third edition under the foregoing title was projected. Science Fiction Handbook, Expanded was numbered by Catherine among the ten books she had co-authored with Sprague in her preamble to the de Camps’ Footprints On Sand: A Literary Sampler (Advent, 1981), and was one of just two she actually named, both stated to be their “latest.” This, in the context of her piece, meant not yet published; the implication is that it was already largely or completely written. She characterized it as “[a]n extensive rewrite of the revised edition now sold out.” The proposed title hints at a restoration and updating of excised material and perhaps more additions, in accordance with the critics’ disappointed hopes for the second edition. But while the other projected collaboration, Dark Valley Destiny: The Life and Death of Robert E. Howard, was published in 1983, Science Fiction Handbook, Expanded fades into silence. Perhaps after the disappointment in the second edition no publisher was confident the de Camps could pull off a new one successfully. We learn from Darrell Schweitzer: “There was some talk once of my rewriting The Science Fiction Handbook (updating it and re-editing it to put some of the old stuff back in) but I don’t think the de Camps ever liked the idea or wanted to share the book. We were friends, but not that close, and it would have been presumptuous for me to have proposed any collaboration. It was George Scithers who was trying to redo the Handbook. He actually did have me write a sample chapter on contemporary SF writers, since Sprague was pretty out of touch with the field by the ‘80s.” (Post to the d for de Camp Yahoo Group, May 2, 2007.) Manuscripts of editions of Science-Fiction Handbook are contained in Boxes 188 (designated “Revised edition”) and 189 of the L. Sprague & Catherine Crook de Camp Papers. I am unaware if any of these represent the text of Science Fiction Handbook, Expanded. But see also the entry for What it Takes to be a Writer.
The Sedulous Sprite. Information about this, Sprague’s last book-length work of fiction, also comes from Darrell Schweitzer. He writes “They were almost neighbors, living about 2 miles away, and … consulted me … to read and critique unpublished de Camp novels. Frankly I think I was being used as a referee between Sprague and Catherine, as George Scithers had been at times. (I still have a copy of an unpublished de Camp novel, part of the Unbeheaded King/Honorable Barbarian sequence in a quasi-Polynesian setting. Before you get all excited, let me admit it isn’t very good …” (Post to the d for de Camp Yahoo Group, April 28, 2007.) Later Darrell reveals a bit more about this novel, including the title: “His last, unpublished novel, The Sedulous Sprite, had indeed ‘lost it.’“ (Post to the d for de Camp Yahoo Group, June 18, 2007.) Darrell later posted a scan of the first page of his copy of the manuscript on the L. Sprague de Camp- Enchanter of the Quill facebook group. (Post to the L. Sprague de Camp- Enchanter of the Quill facebook group, April 25, 2019.) While there appears to be no manuscript by this title among the L. Sprague & Catherine Crook de Camp Papers at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, it is probably represented by that of The Fatuous Fay (see separate entry), which was likely the working title.
Shadows Out of Time. A manuscript contained in Box 188 of the L. Sprague & Catherine Crook de Camp Papers. This was a non-fiction book projected by de Camp in 1989, intended as a companion volume to Lands Beyond, but dealing with legendary events rather than legendary places. Writing of the project to Phillip Sawyer, he gave the Flood, the Exodus, and the Trojan War as examples of such events that might be covered. He sent a sample to his agent, but presumably no publisher expressed interest, as the book never appeared. (Letter to Phillip Sawyer, 8 Oct 89) This manuscript presumably represents the sample and whatever other additional material de Camp may have written before setting the project aside. An oddly Lovecraftian title for a de Camp piece!
# # #
More to come!
Addendum to the second installment of The Unwritten Classics of the de Camps
[A book on machines.] This book was commissioned by Time-Life Books in 1962. De Camp wrote a sample in December 1962, had it tentatively approved and went on the write five of the eight projected chapters by the end of January 1963. At that point the publisher had a change of heart, abrogated the contract, and asked for the advance back. They did not get it, and de Camp did not finish the book. He does not tell us what the title was to have been. (Time & Chance, p. 289.) Just possibly it is the Man the Engineer manuscript contained in Box 234 of the L. Sprague & Catherine Crook de Camp Papers.
# # #
spraguedecampfan 